News of the day from around the nation, Sept. 11

Chronicle News Services

Published
4:25 pm PDT, Tuesday, September 11, 2018

1Family sues FBI: The family of a kidnapped man who was fatally shot during a rescue mission in Houston is suing the FBI agent who killed him. The lawsuit filed by Ulises Valladares’ family alleges illegal search and seizure and wrongful death. Law enforcement raided a Houston residence Jan. 25, about a day after the 47-year-old Valladares was taken for ransom by men claiming to be part of a Mexican cartel. Houston police say an FBI agent, who has not been named, was attempting to enter the unlit home when someone grabbed his rifle. Police say the agent couldn’t see who it was and shot Valladares. The family’s attorney disputes the account, saying Valladares was bound at the time.

2Prison release: A woman convicted of helping a former street preacher kidnap Elizabeth Smart as a teenager from her Salt Lake City bedroom in 2002 and hold her captive will be released from prison next week. The surprise move announced Tuesday comes after authorities determined they had miscalculated the time 72-year-old Wanda Barzee previously served in federal custody. Barzee pleaded guilty to kidnapping Smart and helping keep her captive for nine months before Smart was found and rescued. Utah Board of Pardons and Parole spokesman Greg Johnson said Barzee will be freed on Sept. 19, and federal supervision for five years. Smart, now 30, didn’t immediately have comment.

3 Puerto Rico hurricane: With a powerful hurricane bearing down on the southeast coast, President Trump on Tuesday turned attention back to the federal government’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico a year ago, deeming it “incredibly successful” even though a recent federal report found that nearly 3,000 people died. The administration’s efforts in Puerto Rico received widespread criticism. But after visiting the island last September, Trump said that Puerto Ricans were fortunate that the storm did not yield a catastrophe akin to the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast. All told, about 1,800 people died in that 2005 storm. Puerto Rico’s governor last month raised the U.S. territory’s official death toll from Hurricane Maria from 64 to 2,975. The storm is also estimated to have caused $100 billion in damage.

4California condor: The reward now totals $15,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the shooting death of an endangered California condor. The condor was found with a gunshot wound in July on private property near the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge in Kern County. The bird later died. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initially offered a $5,000 reward and the Center for Biological Diversity tripled it this week. California condors are one of the world’s largest birds with a wingspan up to 10 feet. Three decades after being pushed to the brink of extinction, the species is making a comeback in the wild. Condors are protected under California law and the federal Engendered Species Act.